ERTC 2022
Refiners weighing opportunities for circular polymer production
Rising Stars was created to celebrate the future of the refining and petrochemical industry. We are delighted to reveal this year’s four finalists who will pitch their answer to the below question: What will the refining engineer’s role be in 2030? Watch our finalists present their vision at ERTC on 9th November where you will get the opportunity to vote for the overall winner
rene gonzaleZ editor, PTQ
ERTC RISING STARS
alternative feedstock in the shift towards greater petrochemical production.
recycling, advanced recycling is designed to operate with the capability to handle impurities, mixed polymers, etc. Before 2027, ExxonMobil plans to open several advanced recycling plants world- wide in the Netherlands and elsewhere, with a total combined capacity of 500,000 mtpy. ExxonMobil’s other reported advanced recy- cling plans centre around a collaboration with London-based Plastic Energy, which operates two such plants in Spain. Earlier this year, the two companies announced that Plastic Energy 6 would build, own, and operate a plant adjacent to ExxonMobil’s petrochemical complex in Notre Dame de Gravenchon, France. Up to 25,000 mtpy of post-consumer mixed- plastic waste feedstock at the French plant will be recycled into raw materials by 2023, which ExxonMobil will then turn into certi- fied circular polymers. Polymers from refineries Circular polymers from SABIC’s Trucircle portfolio 7 are produced using advanced recycling, converting low-quality mixed and used plastic, otherwise destined for inciner- ation or landfill, into pyrolysis oil. Process Engineer HELLENiQ Energy Collaboration between SABIC and BP at the Gelsenkirchen production site facilitates the processing of pyrolysis oil as an alterna- tive to traditional hydrocarbon feedstocks. The pyrolysis oil is then processed through SABIC’s Gelsenkirchen polymer units to produce certified circular products with identical properties to virgin-based polymers. To stimulate the uptake of recy- cled content in plastics packaging, a plastic packaging tax is being introduced on plas- tics packaging manufactured or imported into the UK if it does not contain at least 30% recycled content. Huge amounts of waste, both in Europe and globally, end up in natural environ- ments, harming wildlife and biodiversity, with up to 80% of marine debris being plas- tic. Many of the globe’s refiners have noted that to increase margins in the biodiversity transition, they must increase the use of Eirini Petropoulou
Zero to single-digit returns for European refiners compel development of revenue streams around low-carbon products. In addition to biofuels, hydrogen and other decarbonisation opportunities, the man- ufacture of circular polymers is pivotal to eliminating the nearly 300 million mtpy of plastic waste produced worldwide. The industry can leverage this waste to produce products for the circular economy. Petrochemical demand is increasing, stimulating demand for polymers produced from waste plastics. Circular polymers help downstream processors’ participation in a sustainable industrial operation, while also providing margins opportunities for compa- nies that have not necessarily considered producing polymers in the past, but none- theless have the supporting infrastructure. Large amounts of recycled plastics are required for circular plastics manufacturing to succeed, involving both mechanical and chemical recycling. Information available from Plastics Europe 1 indicates its member companies are already planning to increase chemical recycling investment to 7.2 billion Euros in 2030, yielding 3.4 million mtpy of recycled plastics. Partnerships EU regulatory rulings 2 on the use of recy- cled content in plastics packaging will help drive the market. Its uptake avoids GHG emitting incineration and plastic marine and land debris. Converting waste plastics to circular plastics seems like an undisput- able win-win proposition considering the current demand for certain polymers like polypropylene. However, wide-scale com- mercialisation still needs to happen. Partnerships are developing in Europe between chemical producers and technol- ogy suppliers to commercialise advanced waste plastics recycling for polymer pro- duction. Together, Dow Chemical, Topsoe, and other contractors with specialised capabilities are moving forward with the design and engineering of a 10,000 ton per year market development unit (MDU). Benjamin Gruhne Operations Superintendent bp Gelsenkirchen
The MDU project at Dow’s complex in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, will demon- strate the ability to efficiently reclaim waste plastic into circular polymers. Full commer- cialisation is expected soon. The MDU is using Topsoe’s PureStep TM chemical recy- cling technology 3 to purify pyrolysis oil feed- stock derived from waste plastics, yielding circular polypropylene and polyethylene. Difficult-to-recycle plastics Industrial-scale purification of circular feed- stocks is needed to meet strong demand for targeted polymers, including polypro- pylene and polyethylene. These waste plas- tics are difficult to recycle, according to recent reports. 4 A range of difficult-to-recy- cle plastics is under consideration as basic building blocks for new chemicals. One option is for offsite purification of the pyrol- ysis oil. To increase pyrolysis oil feedstock pro- duction, the Fuenix Ecogy Group’s unit in Weert, the Netherlands, will be capable of processing 20,000 mtpy of post-con- sumer plastics into pyrolysis oil feedstock for Dow’s Terneuzen circular plastics oper- ations. Dow has committed to offering at least 100,000 mtpy of recycled high-qual- ity plastics sold in the EU by 2025, such as for packaging applications. The Fuenix Ecogy ® process 5 cracks what- ever polymers are in the plastic to a molec- ular level, essentially upcycling end-of-life plastics that would otherwise go to waste and instead creating high-quality raw mate- rial feedstock for process facilities. These facilities could include refineries with the necessary infrastructure, such as asset integration and scale. Objectives Continuous recycling of waste plastics into circular polymers is a strategic objective for other major chemical manufacturers. For example, Chevron Phillips Chemical’s (CPC) circular polyethylene matches the perfor- mance and safety specifications of CPC’s virgin polymers. Compared to traditional Carine Strand Operation & Maintenance Engineer Equinor
Petrochemical shift A growing number of refiners are turning to waste recycling technologies to provide sustainable feedstock while reducing their reliance on the exploration and production of fossil fuels. The consultancy McKinsey also highlighted this opportunity, suggest- ing this could represent a global profit pool of nearly €50 billion per year by 2030. Elsewhere, Axens is teaming with down- stream operators to process renewably sourced aromatics, primarily for recovery of high-purity bio-based paraxylene, which can help develop renewable chemicals from non-food biomass. Increased demand for substitutes of conventional petrochemi- cal products, exposed to volatile crude oil prices, is likely to drive bio-based parax- ylene market growth. Ilona Leubner Business Developer Renewables Bayernoil Widespread utilisation of bio-based par- axylene in various applications, such as in polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is likely to generate double-digit growth opportu- nities for the worldwide bio-based parax- ylene market. Against this backdrop, the imminent closure of many European refin- eries may be avoided as these facilities play the role of first movers in the global circular economy. References 1 https://plasticseurope.org/ 2 https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/ plastics_en 3 www.topsoe.com/processes/renewables/ waste-to-plastic 4 https://plasticmakers.org/ 5 https://fuenix.com/wp-content/ uploads/2019/08/dow_fuenix_pressre- lease-29-8-2019.pdf 6 https://plasticenergy.com/plastic_energy_col- laborates_with_exxonmobil_on_advanced_recy- cling_project_in_france/ 7 www.sabic.com/en/sustainability/ circular-economy/trucircle-portfolio-and-services 8 www.mckinsey.com/industries/chemicals/our- insights/how-plastics-waste-recycling-could- transform-the-chemical-industry
2022 Rising Stars Finalist
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